While girls will, more likely than not, understand the meaning of a red rose, they probably won’t know the meaning of every flower. Score extra bonus points by writing the reasoning behind your selection in a small card stuck in the floral arrangement. So, what is appropriate for different occasions? For friendship, get well or a female family member, yellow roses work great. For love and romance, you can never go wrong with roses. (Red, pink, white or purple). For your girlfriend’s birthday in June? Pick her up purple roses and then tell her it’s because they’re her birthday flower and because you fell in love with her at first site. For a co-worker, neighbor or other acquaintances, stick to something safe like sunflowers, bamboo or chrysanthemum. And my personal advice is to never, never give anyone a carnation; it just says cheap.